Amanuensis Monday - Part Three - Postscript to April 1849 Gold Rush Letter

P.S. Receipt for preserving butter. Prepare your butter as usual. Work out the milk well. Take the same quantity of salt as usual, the same amount of loaf sugar as salt and half the amount of saltpeter or less as either of salt or sugar, pulverize it all together, put it up in jars kegs or boxes as usual.

I got the receipt from a Verginian on the boat. He says at the end of 9 or 12 months no person can tell it from butter cherned the day before if any odds it is better. He has preserved thousands of pounds in the last 12 years.

I put off closing my letter till today as the mail comes and goes today. Our teams and Abraham and the Doctor have not come yet. We are looking for a boat every hour. Tell Barbara she need not be uneasy about Abraham as their has no boat come since we arrived but one that we passed.

Dear wife and children my encouragement is so great that I would positively not be back for one thousand dollars although there are hundreds that came here to get their outfeit and have drank and gambled and spent their means that can’t go.

You may look for another letter soon. Tell Henry when he goes to Alton again to call at Parkers. I left my old shoes in the corner by the stove and our coffee was all forgot. We had one mess out of it a boat came down about 10:00 11 o’clock and we were all in a hurry and bussled.